Indian ministers to attend Pakistan event

TEHRAN _ After many weeks of saber-rattling, accusations and counter-accusations, estranged neighbors India and Pakistan are again attempting to build a bridge between them.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has welcomed India’s decision to send its two ministers to attend the groundbreaking of Kartarpur border corridor in Pakistan, terming it a ‘positive response to Pakistan’s move’.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan will do groundbreaking of the event, which experts believe might lead to thaw in stormy relations between the two neighbors.

Qureshi earlier took to Twitter to announce that he had invited Swaraj as well as Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu to attend the event.

“Indian foreign ministry has responded well to Pakistan’s initiative in its bid to bring the Sikh community closer,” Qureshi was quoted saying in media. He said with a single yet significant step, Pakistan had won the hearts of millions of Sikhs.

Gurdwara Darbar Sahib – located in the Kartarpur area – is the final resting place of the founder of Sikhism Guru Nanak.

New Delhi has announced that it would start construction of the Kartarpur corridor up to the international border with Pakistan. The announcement was immediately welcomed by Islamabad as ‘victory for peace’.